The following background information may present examples of specific aspects of the prior art (e.g., without limitation, approaches, facts, or common wisdom) that, while expected to be helpful to further educate the reader as to additional aspects of the prior art, is not to be construed as limiting the present invention, or any embodiments thereof, to anything stated or implied therein or inferred thereupon.
It is known that a laryngeal mask enables anesthetists to channel oxygen or anesthesia gas to a patient's lungs during surgery. Generally, the laryngeal mask has an airway tube that connects to an elliptical mask with a cuff. During surgery, the mask may be pushed though the throat to the space between the vocal cords. When the cuff is inflated, the mask conforms to the anatomy with the bowl of the mask facing the space between the vocal cords. After correct insertion, the tip of the laryngeal mask sits in the throat against the muscular valve that is located at the upper portion of the esophagus.
It is known that there is great difficulty in providing air to the lungs during surgery. The skillset may require invasive procedures. These include varying levels of sedation given to patients while maintaining an open airway for spontaneously breathing patients and passing a gas through the throat to allow ventilation in the obtunded and apneic patient. There are a myriad of airway devices to support these skills, all by creating a physical passageway to the hypopharynx and tracheal opening or through the trachea. None of these devices are tolerated by an awake or moderately sedated patient because they touch areas of the hypopharynx that elicit a powerful gagging and coughing reaction.
Often, the medical professional who is responsible for forming the airway through the mouth and throat areas must utilize maneuvers to allow the air passage to be maintained in the obtunded patient. Beside head and neck positioning, these chin lift and jaw thrust maneuvers take advantage of the unique anatomy of the human temporo-mandibular joint and stretch the soft tissues to form the desired airway passage. Typically, in these maneuvers, the mouth is not opened except through the pulling of the chin or pushing the angle of the jaw. Also, the cam joint action is engaged, the hypopharynx is opened, and the air passage from the nose though the pharynx can be created. These maneuvers often take away from the chief surgical procedures.
It is known that edentulism is the condition of being toothless to at least some degree. When an individual's mouth is at rest, the teeth in the opposing jaws are nearly touching. This causes the formation of a freeway space of roughly 2-3 mm. However, this distance is partially maintained as a result of the teeth limiting any further closure past the point of maximum intercuspation. When there are no teeth present in the mouth, the natural vertical dimension of occlusion is lost and the mouth has a tendency to overdose. This may be problematic when trying to introduce air into the lungs with a laryngeal mask.
It is understood by those skilled in the art that because the laryngeal mask slides around and does not seat properly in edentulous patients, time can be lost trying to manipulate the laryngeal mask. It frequently has to be taped to the face, which can excoriate the skin and cause injury. The excessive movement also blocks the opening in the mouth, which further reduces air intake by the patient. Thus, an anchor for the laryngeal mask would allow for better ventilation while retaining the laryngeal mask in the proper position through the mouth.
Other proposals have involved for introducing air into the passage and securely holding the laryngeal mask in a desired orientation, especially for am edentulous mouth. The problem with these devices is that they do not provide a stable enough platform for anchoring the airway tube; nor do these devices attach to edentulous gums securely.
Thus, an unaddressed need exists in the industry to address the aforementioned deficiencies and inadequacies. Even though the above cited methods for a laryngeal mask anchoring device and related maneuvers meets some of the needs of the market, an anchoring device designed to securely seat an airway tube to an edentulous mouth, guide an airway tube towards the lungs, at least partially brace open the mouth for enhanced ventilation, and collapse for storage and portability of the device is still desired.